Most lakes in the Kamloops area of British Columbia have large areas of what I call active chironomid water. What I do when I arrive at a lake I haven’t fished before is take time to investigate the ends and quiet bays. When I have located the area where I expect to find chironomids, in from two to 10 feet of water, I will set my anchors. Sometime there will be shucks on the surface; sometimes you will see the chironomids suspended in the water, or even popping out on the surface.
Besides looking in the bays, I will also search for chironomids over sunken islands, which are often visible through the clear water. When I find one I will anchor in the deep water nearby and cast over the shoal, or sunken island. Fish will be cruising this edge, or moving up briefly to feed in the shallows.
I like to fish water like that with a floating line and a long, long leader. A leader of 20 to 25 feet is not too long to fish chironomids.
I prefer to use a full floating line line because you can control the retrieve better. The retrieve should be very slow. When a blood worm or a chironomid moves they don’t dart about. Watch chironomids as they twitch towards the surface to emerge. That’s the speed you should be moving your fly. Most people bring their fly in far too quickly. If you cast 90 feet and your fly is back to the boat in under four minutes, you are retrieving too fast. Time yourself on a few retrieves, and force yourself to slow down. As I like to tell people: Slow down. Then slow down some more.
Be quiet, be observant, and be patient. There’s a lot to see and listen to when you are anchored on a beautiful lake, waiting for a Kamloops trout to take your fly. Enjoy the moment.
Fly tying and fly fishing should be a relaxing and therapeutic sport in this age of hurry and bustle. After a day of endless phone calls and paper shuffling, one needs to get away and relax. What I do after such a day is depart for one of my favorite lakes, sit in my Rebel, one man boat, and let nature unwind all my woes. A brew sometimes helps.
Few things are more pleasant than sitting quietly on a lake, anticipating a trout. And remember - think of the future and fish barbless. Learn catch and release methods so there will be fish for everyone to enjoy, for many years to come.
There are a lot of different chironomid patterns available. Here’s one that can be fished, ‘From Ice Off To Ice On’. Tie it in browns, blacks, greens of all shades in hook sizes 10 2X to 16 2X Mustad barbless.
1) Dress hook by wrapping tying thread from eye to bend.
2) Tail, any hackle fronds. Fine and short.
3) Ribbing. Now tie in fine wire at bend.
4) Body. Tie in at bend. The materials I use are:
- Phentex. Black, green and red.
- Pheasant tail for brown ones.
- Wire, copper, green and silver.
5) Now wrap thread to within one eighth of an inch of the eye.
6) Wrap body material to within one eighth of an inch of the eye and tie off.
7) Wrap wire for segments anti-clockwise seven times to end of body, and tie off.
8) Legs. Tine in a small amount under end of body front, using same material as tail. Tie off.
9) Now wrap in a small amount of peacock herl for the thorax. Tie off.
10) Gills. Tie in one strand of ostrich white in front of the thorax.
11) Tie off and cement.
(Editor’s note: Mo Bradley is an expert fly fisherman and fly tier who lives in Kamloops. He is the author of , From Ice Off...To Ice On, a small booklet packed with information on patterns for Kamloops trout. He recently announced that he has retired as a guide, because he wants to spend more time fishing himself.)
